The new Digitalis cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program by the inventor, John Fielding. The crossing resulting in this new variety was performed in 2010.
The seed parent variety is an unnamed, unpatented proprietary variety of Digitalis purpurea. The pollen parent is an unnamed, unpatented proprietary variety of Digitalis canariensis. The new variety was identified as a potentially interesting selection during June of 2015 at a private garden in London, United Kingdom. First public exposure was May 21, 2019, in the United Kingdom. Information and access to the new variety was initiated directly by the inventors or one who obtained the claimed invention directly or indirectly from the inventors. All public disclosures made between May 21, 2019 and the filing of this application fall within the exception allowed under 102(b)(1).
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar Digitalis ‘Firebird’ was first performed during Summer of 2015, in London, United Kingdom, at the inventor's private garden using terminal vegetative cuttings. Subsequent propagation has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type on successive generations.